French Top 14 introduces salary cap and foreign quota

Domestic rugby in France will change from next season with the La Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) announcing that they will go ahead with plans to implement a salary cap in the Top 14, and will also start putting limits on foreign players in the top leagues.

The LNR is the controlling body of both the Top 14 and the second division of French rugby, the ProD2, and spending of France’s richest clubs will be curtailed, although their purse strings will still stretch wider than most other domestic leagues.

France has been the destination of choice with numerous high profile rugby stars signing on with local clubs, earning up to double what they could be paid even as a test star contracted to the national union.

The highest profile in recent years was All Blacks captain Tana Umaga, and his recruitment led to a flood of players, with numerous New Zealanders moving to France, as well as Springboks and Englishmen, with Riki Flutey and Jonny Wilkinson’s moves upsetting the bosses at the RFU.

Salary budgets will be limited to 8 million Euros, with clubs also having to hold a reserve of 20 per cent (from their budget), an increase from the current 10 per cent reserve they are forced to hold.

There will also be changes to the number of foreign players allowed.

Forty percent of all players on the books of both Top 14 and ProD2 clubs will need to be home grown, meaning that to qualify for this status, the individual(s) will need to have played for five seasons with a French licence if older than 21, or three years within a French rugby academy between the ages of 16 and 21.

The percentage will increase, with it being capped at 40 percent next season, and rising 10 percent each year until 2012/2013 when it will level out at 60 percent.